Tech and Health Care Lead as SMH Draws $3.5B into Sector ETFs

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Weekly Channel Summary

The Sector & Industry channel holds $1,104.96B in AUM across 270 ETFs from 58 issuers. Net flows totaled $8,720M for the 5-day period, $63,290M year-to-date, and $73,552M over the trailing year, underscoring sustained investor engagement with sector-specific exposures. The scale of YTD inflows relative to 1-year inflows suggests flow momentum has been concentrated in recent months rather than evenly distributed across the year.

This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards

Health Care led all categories on a WTD basis at 1.49%, followed by Information Technology at 1.01%, while the remaining nine categories posted weekly declines. Utilities was the weakest performer WTD at -2.99%, followed by Financials at -2.56% and Materials at -2.00%. On a YTD basis, Energy stands out with a 45.23% gain and Information Technology follows at 38.88%, both well ahead of the broader group, whereas Communication Services (-4.29%) and Consumer Discretionary (-6.19%) remain in negative territory for the year. The divergence between Energy’s strong YTD performance and its weak WTD reading (-1.67%) highlights short-term volatility within an otherwise strong 2026 category.

Category Performance Snapshot

Category WTD 1 Month 3 Month 6 Month YTD 1 Year
Health Care 1.49% -0.93% 13.13% 18.39% 13.11% 30.00%
Information Technology 1.01% 1.63% -2.88% 39.62% 38.88% 47.46%
Consumer Staples -0.76% -3.38% -0.08% 1.09% 7.45% 6.16%
Communication Services -1.33% 1.01% 1.55% -0.67% -4.29% -4.18%
Industrial -1.57% -9.86% -7.42% -0.90% 6.17% 9.65%
Energy -1.67% 0.78% 19.59% 10.81% 45.23% 47.46%
Consumer Discretionary -1.86% -4.77% -5.12% 1.20% -6.19% -6.80%
Real Estate -1.98% -4.77% -2.08% 2.83% 7.28% 5.61%
Materials -2.00% -3.22% -3.19% 4.19% 11.62% 13.43%
Financials -2.56% -3.83% 3.97% 15.83% 4.65% 7.16%
Utilities -2.99% -6.50% -7.66% -10.71% -2.49% -0.15%

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance

IGV topped the weekly leaderboard with a 2.79% gain, followed closely by biotech-focused FBT at 2.41% and shipping-linked BOAT at 2.33%. On the downside, COAL was the week’s weakest performer at -7.39%, well below the next-worst fund, IEZ, at -5.40%. Oil services names dominated the bottom of the list, with OIH and XES both down roughly 5%, consistent with Energy’s negative WTD category performance despite its strong YTD showing. Financials-linked KBWB rounded out the bottom five, down 4.91% for the week.

Ticker Fund Name WTD Performance
Top Performers
IGV iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF 2.79%
FBT First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund 2.41%
BOAT SonicShares Global Shipping ETF 2.33%
SEA U.S. Global Sea to Sky Cargo ETF 2.21%
PBE Invesco Biotechnology & Genome ETF 2.15%
Bottom Performers
COAL Range Global Coal Index ETF -7.39%
IEZ iShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF -5.40%
OIH VanEck Oil Services ETF -5.22%
XES State Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF -4.98%
KBWB Invesco KBW Bank ETF -4.91%

Analyzing the Weekly Flows

The channel gathered $8,720M in net inflows over the past five trading days, led decisively by Information Technology at $6,541M, which also carries the largest YTD inflow total of $38,473M among all categories. Industrial ($1,223M) and Consumer Discretionary ($1,061M) also posted solid weekly gains, while Financials suffered the largest outflow at -$1,012M, extending a longer-term trend that includes a -$3,305M 30-day and -$3,795M YTD outflow. Energy was the only other category to see net redemptions this week, losing $617M despite its strong YTD flow position of $7,281M. The concentration of inflows in Information Technology contrasts with steady Financials outflows, pointing to a rotation toward growth-sensitive sectors.

Category Flows Summary

Category Fund Count AUM 5 Day 30 Day 90 Day YTD 1 Year
Information Technology 33 $501.18B $6,541M $8,839M -$5,119M $38,473M $39,968M
Industrial 30 $83.49B $1,223M -$177M $470M $13,404M $16,455M
Consumer Discretionary 13 $31.84B $1,061M -$152M $401M -$1,695M -$1,877M
Communication Services 7 $31.45B $545M $114M -$729M -$3,553M -$4,196M
Health Care 32 $113.60B $483M $1,059M $6,257M $6,207M $11,714M
Real Estate 53 $93.31B $314M $164M $2,377M $5,483M $8,724M
Utilities 11 $36.02B $96M $108M $727M -$426M $1,601M
Materials 10 $14.15B $77M $149M -$280M $2,961M $2,814M
Consumer Staples 13 $26.78B $9M -$19M $713M -$1,052M -$1,751M
Energy 33 $72.64B -$617M -$42M -$3,352M $7,281M $7,019M
Financials 35 $100.51B -$1,012M -$3,305M -$379M -$3,795M -$6,919M

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow

SMH was the standout inflow leader by a wide margin, pulling in $3,480M for the week, nearly five times the next-largest inflow fund. XAR and XLY followed with $737M and $714M respectively, while semiconductor exposure was also reinforced through SOXX‘s $625M haul. On the redemption side, XLE led outflows at -$874M, followed by XLF at -$695M, consistent with the broader Energy and Financials category-level redemptions seen this week.

Ticker Fund Name 5-Day Flow
Inflows
SMH VanEck Semiconductor ETF $3,480M
XAR State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF $737M
XLY State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF $714M
SOXX iShares Semiconductor ETF $625M
TDIV First Trust NASDAQ Technology Dividend Index Fund $583M
Outflows
XLE State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF -$874M
XLF State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF -$695M
XLP State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF -$405M
XLV State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF -$376M
KRE State Street SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF -$357M

Issuer League Table Update

SPDR remains the largest issuer in the channel by AUM at $421.01B, or 38.10% of total assets, followed by Vanguard at $271.88B and a 24.61% share. Despite its size, SPDR posted the week’s largest issuer-level outflow at -$1,080M, driven largely by redemptions from its Energy and Financials sector SPDRs. VanEck led all issuers in weekly inflows with $3,737M, propelled by strong demand for its semiconductor exposure, while iShares followed with $2,663M in net inflows. Vanguard rounded out the top inflow group with $1,056M, indicating that flow leadership this week diverged from the issuer ranks led by AUM share.

Top 5 Issuers by AUM

Brand Fund Count AUM AUM Market Share
SPDR 28 $421.01B 38.10%
Vanguard 12 $271.88B 24.61%
iShares 48 $197.59B 17.88%
VanEck 20 $77.93B 7.05%
Fidelity 12 $41.00B 3.71%

Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow

Brand 5-Day Flow
Inflows
VanEck $3,737M
iShares $2,663M
Vanguard $1,056M
Outflows
SPDR -$1,080M
US Global -$49M
Schwab -$10M

For a deeper dive into these trends, access our FREE, in-depth Sector & Industry ETF reports in the right side panel of this page.

Disclosures

This material is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. All investments, including ETFs, involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Investors should consider their investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing.

This analysis was developed by the team at ETF Action. We leverage advanced AI tools to assist in the drafting and refinement of our content, based on our expert prompts, direction, and final review.